1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for determining an acoustic and/or thermal characteristic of a target material. The present invention also relates to determining an acoustic and/or thermal characteristic of a target material present on a production line.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the construction of residential and commercial buildings, materials can be used to provide thermal and/or acoustic insulation. For example, such materials can be placed in the wall cavities of a building. Materials used to provide thermal and/or acoustic insulation in such applications are known in the art and include, for example, a glass fiber material. Processes and apparatuses for manufacturing such insulation materials are known in the art.
During or after the manufacture of the thermal and/or acoustic insulation material, the manufactured product can be tested in order to ensure that the thermal and/or acoustic characteristics thereof meet particular quality control standards. However, measuring the relevant characteristics of the manufactured product can often be a difficult and/or time consuming task. For example, measuring characteristics of the manufactured product typically requires taking a sample of the product from the production line for testing. The testing of characteristics such as, for example, the effective thermal conductivity of a fiber glass material, can take as long as one-half hour to complete. The interruption in the production process to. obtain a portion of the insulation material for testing can be burdensome, and also can have an adverse effect on the efficiency of the overall manufacturing process. In addition, the considerable amount of time normally required to determine relevant characteristics of the manufactured product can further delay production of the material and/or permit the manufacture of non-compliant materials while the sample material is being tested.
The problems discussed above can be ameliorated or overcome by employing exemplary aspects of the present invention. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, acoustic and/or thermal measurements taken in connection with a target material (i.e., the material to be tested) can be obtained without requiring the removal of a sample of the target material. That is, according to exemplary aspects, simultaneous manufacturing of the target material and testing of the characteristics of the target material can be achieved. In addition, exemplary aspects of the present invention can enable the determination of characteristics of the target material within a relatively short period of time.
The present inventor has also recognized that in some cases, it can be beneficial to obtain both acoustic and density measurements in connection with a target material, in order to determine a characteristic of the target material based on such acoustic and density measurements. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, such characteristic based on the acoustic and density measurements can be obtained.
Other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.